woods



(No Model.)

G. T. WOODS.

7 8 8 6 1 av u A Rm 6 2 a 8 6 3 N Invent 01. GM

OiI LGY.

ihvrrno STATES PATENT ()FFICEO GHAX'Vll/LF. T. \VOODS, ()F CINCINNATI, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE WOODS ELECTRIC (OMP-ANY, OF SAME PLACE. 1

ELECTRO-MECHANICAL BRAKE.'

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Application tiled Noiembcr 3, 18

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GRANVILLE T. Icons, a citizen of the United States, residing at Oincinnati, Ohio, have invented new and useful Improvements in Electrohlechanical Brakes, ofwhich the following is a specificationv M y invention relates to braking apparatus for railway-cars, its object beingto simplify and render the same more efficient and durable, with a view, primarily, to theuse of the electric current as a means of controlling the power employed in braking.

To this end it consists in the construction and arrangement of mechanism and mode of applying and controlling the power used, as hereinafter more fully setforth.

Mechanism embodying my invention is illustrated in the accom mnyin drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of a portion of a car to which my invention is applied; Fig. 2, a plan view of the swinging frame with countor-shaft, friction-pulley, windingdrum, governor, and some of the connected parts; and Fig. 8 an enlarged detail of the governor."

tefcrringmonyto the drawings, A designates the car; 13 B, the truck-wheels; the bolster of the car-truck; (I, the car-axle. In my invention I employ the rotative forceof the caraxle as the braking power; but have kept in view the desirability of allowing the braking apparatus to remain inert when not directly in use, in order to avoid the unnecessary wear of rotating parts. I have also adopted the system of brakes normally acting except when held out of action by a superior force; and I therefore so arrange the mechanism that, except when temporarily hcld'out of act'on, it acts to set the brakes whenever thccars are in motion.

livoted to the bolster C (or to the car-body) is a frame, 0, at the outer end of which is mounted a counter-shaft, (Z, driven by a fric' tion'gear, 7), rigidly attached upon it, when brought by the pendulous movement of the frame cinto rotatative contact with a frictiongcar, c, rigidly secured upon the caraxle a. Adjacent to the friction-gear b,and loose upon the shaft (1, is a winding-drum,f, upon which winds a chain or belt, 1, connecting with the ordinary brakelever. (Not shown.) Next Patent No. 368,265. dated August 16, 1887.

86. Serial No.217,860. (No model.)

beyond the drumf upon the shaft d is afriction plate or disk, h, having a slotandfeather connection with the shaft. The

be enlargcd'into a diskfiof corresponding size) of wheel I) at the other side of the drum f constitute the frictional clamping-surfaces between which the drum is held and rotated when in action. The plate h is normally held against the drum (and the latter against the opposite hub-surface) by a coiled spring, 8, whose opposite abutment is the sliding collar iOf an apparatus in the form of an ordinary steamengine governor attached to the counter-shaft, and constructed as follows:

7.:, held pivotally at their elbow corners in a fixed collar, 7.", upon the shaft, weights w, attached to the adjustable termini of the long arms, and links l,connecting the termini of the short arms with a sliding collar, 2. Thus the action of the governor when in action, as will be seen, is to increase the force of the spring and hold the winding-drumf more firmly beforce upon the chain 7.

The spring 8 should be of sufficient force when unassisted by the, governor) only to h old the brakes to the wheels with slight force, which force, as will be seen, will be increased by the speed of the car through the action of the governor. The governor apparatus has, however, a further function which justifies its name. In case the braking force should skid the wheels'B, therotatiou of the counter-shaftd would be arrested, and the action of the governor in such case would release the spring to its normal position and loosen the brakes sufficicntly to allow the wheels to rotate by lesseniug the holding friction upon the drumf. The normal force of the spring 8 may be increased or diminished by shifting the terminal pin-connections of the governor-arms k with the links Z upon the latter in the series of apertures provided, as shown in Fig. 3.

In the drawings I have shown the brakechain 9 passed around idler-pulleys m m and connected ultimately to the car-body and engaging the ultimate brake rod or chain 9 by means of a suspended pulley, g, in the bight of the chain 9,-- but this multiplication of pulplate It at one side and the hub b (which may p tween surfaces, thus increasing the winding The governor consists of two bell-crank arms,

conditions admit.

4 It only remains to describe the electrical part'of the apparatus. I employ the electric current for the purposeonly of elevating the pivoted frame 0 to hold the friction -'gears b and .e out of contact. For this purpose any of the generators, conductors, and other prelimi-- 'nary apparatus may. be employed, and as these are well known I have not thought it necessary to exhibit the same in the drawings.

Assuming, then, that the same means of generatin g and co ntrollin g the current is provided,

I employ on the car-body an electriemotor, D, interposed in a multiple-arc ground-circuit, n n, connecting the main electric conductor E to ground at one of the wheel-bearings. This current may, however, be interposed between an outgoing and'a return con ductor, or arranged in any suitable manner, according to the electrical system adopted, the object, as far as my inventiouis concerned, being merely to obtain the energizing forcein the motor D in any convenient manner. 7

.The shaft 0 of the motor is extended into or geared with a winding-drum, 1), upon which winds a chain, 1', passing over an idlersheave,

t, and forming a suspension-loop connected to the car-body, carrying a sheave, .13, connected with the frame a in the bight of the loop.

The arrangement and electrical-connections are such that when the electric current energizes the motor its rotation winds up the chain 1- and holds the friction-gears b e out of contact, and the braking apparatus is inert. [I also prefer to add an ordinary hand-wheel and shaft, F, with winding chain a, connecting with the chain 7', to operate the apparatus by hand when required-ms, for example, when the car thus provided is attached to a trainnprovidedwith the electrical connections. The ordinary hand-brake connections may also be employed to connectdirectly with the brakelevers, as my apparatus does not in any way interfere with their use.

' I claim as my invention and desire to secure I by Letters Patent of the United States- 1. In combination with a railway-car and its truck, and a friction-gear carried uponone of its axles, a swinging frame pivoted to the bolster and carrying a counter-shaft with a friction-gear, said frame adapted to swing its counter-shaft gear by gravity into engagement with thefriction-gear upon the axle, a winding-drum upon the counter-shaft winding the brake-chain when driven by contact of the gears, and a motor and electric connections rotating a second winding-drum provided with a chain and pulleys for lifting the frame and holding the brake-gears out of contact when energized, substantially as set forth.

2. In electro-mechanical brake mechanism of the. character described, in combination with and upon the counter-shaft carrying a friction-gear adapted to be alternately engaged with a similar gear upon the cal-axle, a laterally-fixed-friotion disk or surface, a laterallymovable friction disk or surface, a loose winding-drnm between and engaged by lateral con- 'tact of the two friction surfaces, and a centrifugal governor attached toand rotating with' the counter-shaft and controlling the movable friction disk or surface, substantially as and for the purpose set forth. I

3. In electro-mechanicalbrake mechanism of the character described, in combination with the adjustable counter-shaft d and its friction-gear b, the fixed and adjustablefriction disks or surfaces b h, the interposed winding-drum f, the centrifugal governor, and the spring 8, interposed between the sliding col-- lar t of the governor and the adjustable friction-disk h, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

4. In electro-mechanical brake mechanism of the character described, the combination, with and upon the driven counter-shaft, of the fixed friction disk or abutment b, the loose Winding drum f. the movable frietion-disk h,

the spring a of the governor as constructed,'

the pivoted bell'cranlz arms k,

embodying extensible links Z, and sliding colweights w,

lar 11, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

GRANVILLE 'I. WOODS.

\Vitnesses: E. L. KERR, O. D. KERR. 

